Moving Forward (A Woodland Park Firefighters Romance)

Moving Forward (A Woodland Park Firefighters Romance)

Romance blossoms in the Colorado foothills in this sweet romance by New York Times bestselling author Shelley Shepard Gray Former Army captain Greg Tebo loves his new life in Woodland Park. In the two years since he joined the WPFD, he’s gained a reputation as a fearless firefighter, and after being stationed all around the country and overseas, he can’t wait to settle down with a wife and kids. When a call comes in about a possible heart attack at the scene of a fire at the Garden Center, Greg assumes they’re going to be helping an elderly customer—not the beautiful, feisty proprietor in her late twenties. Kristen Werner has been determined to pretend everything is fine. She refuses to leave the company she’s carefully nurtured and move home to her loving but meddling family in Houston. Since her devastating diagnosis caused her fiancé to dump her, she’s given up on love and thrown herself into cultivating her blooming business instead—even if the hard work further weakens her heart.   Greg is drawn to Kristen’s vibrant, independent spirit and hopes romance will flower. But she’s had enough trouble with her heart to last a lifetime, and can’t trust Greg not to break it—especially if he finds out she can never give him the houseful of children he longs for.... Shelley Shepard Gray is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, a finalist for the American Christian Fiction Writers' prestigious Carol Award, and a two-time HOLT Medallion winner. She lives in southern Ohio, where she writes full-time, bakes too much, and can often be found walking her dachshunds on her town’s bike trail. Chapter 1 June Greg pressed a hand against the cool metal wall of the fire engine as Chip veered right. Through the window, he saw two pickup trucks hastily pull over to the side of the road as Chip, the fire truck's engineer and driver, picked up speed. "Whoa, cowboy," he teased. "The goal is to make it to the fire in one piece, right?" "Stop worrying, Tebo. I got this. I mean, I do, as long as all these folks stop sipping their morning coffee and get it through their heads that pulling over for us isn't going to make them late for work." Chip blared the horn at a stubborn driver, then gunned the gas. After a second's pause, the fire engine lurched forward like it was in a Formula 1 race. When Chip blared the horn as he sped through another intersection, Greg took care not to look out for oncoming traffic. Every once in a while, all the lights and horns played with his head-a gift that kept giving from Afghanistan. This was one of those mornings. He breathed deeply and attempted to center himself by silently counting backward from twenty-no small feat while traveling inside a speeding fire truck. "Idiot," Chip muttered as he blared the horn again. Feeling his vision swim, Greg started over again. Twenty. Nineteen. Eighteen. Seven- "Greg, what's up with you?" "Huh?" With effort, he pushed aside his numbered lifeline and turned to the person in the jump seat next to him. Samantha Carter, a firefighter about his age, grinned at him. "You okay, T? You're looking a little uptight. What's up?" He wasn't surprised she'd noticed, but he did wish he'd been able to hide his discomfort better. "Nothing." She arched a brow. "Want to try that again?" Irritation surged forward as Chip weaved through more traffic. Just in time, Greg bit back an impatient reply. The truth was that it wasn't just the sirens that had been giving him fits today. He'd been a little short-tempered during the entire forty-eight-hour shift. He'd hoped it was because it had been slower than usual. Too much time on his hands was dangerous for him. Too much time meant he spent hours staring into space instead of actually sleeping. Too much time to think about how he hadn't gone back home to West Virginia to see his mother in far too long. Time to feel guilty for not being around for his youngest brother, Copeland, when he was growing up. Time to wonder if he'd chosen the right profession after the army. Of course, none of that could be shared-especially not while Chip was driving hell-for-leather through the streets of Woodland Park. He shrugged. "Don't worry about me, Cat," he murmured, using his pet name for her. "I'm good. Just glad this shift is almost over." Sympathy filled her gaze just as Chip slammed on the brakes-before gunning the accelerator again. "I'm with you. I hate boring shifts." "Four minutes," the captain said through their radios. "Fire looks to be contained, but be ready for anything. This is a garden center. Lots of flammable substances on the premises." "Roger that, Cap," Greg said as he started fastening the buckles on his turnout coat. Next to him, Samantha did the same. "Does that ever catch you off guard, Greg?" He glanced her way. "What?" "You know, calling another person captain when you were one?" It took him a second to figure out what she was talking about. His former life. For a dozen years, he'